Inhale, Exhale
by TVDVampire
Summary: One week later, after he had made her believe he would drive her off of the bridge.


**A/N: Here is my one-shot that follows the current storyline. After watching last week's episode, I really wanted to add to it. Please let me know what you think! Thanks!**

_Inhale. _He watched her lay there on the bed from about 20 feet or so away. His hands twitched, his skin burned. He was on edge.

_Exhale. _He had no other choice. Klaus had a weakness. Elena. Her blood, rather. Without her blood, Klaus couldn't make more hybrids. Stefan had figured out just how important Elena was a week ago when he had threatened to drive Elena off of Old Wickery Bridge. Klaus had caved, given in, bent to Stefan's demands, just to keep Elena alive. When Stefan had meant to make her dead.

Would he have done it? Actually ran the car off the bridge? No. If he had been the old Stefan. The one who loved with everything he had, who struggled with his faults. No, he would not have even considered the idea.

But as the real Stefan, the one who was blood thirsty and revengeful? Yes. He would have driven that car right off the bridge, plummeting into the water. He would have listened to her screams, to her lungs filling up with water as she gasped for air. To her heartbeat slowly fade. Yes, he would have done it.

_Inhale. _He had no other choice but to kidnap her this afternoon. To bring her to this old, rickety cabin in the mountains of Virginia in the dead of winter. Klaus had made a move to find Elena and take her, to hide her so no one, namely Stefan, could interfere with his plans for her. But Stefan had moved first, having the advantage because he knew Elena better than Klaus. Better than anyone. He had been able to find Elena underneath the bleachers at school, writing in her diary.

_Exhale. _Stefan hadn't really thought much before he bumped her over the head, hard enough to make her lose consciousness, but not hard enough to cause any permanent damage. He had already caused enough of that. In so little time, Elena had gone from being the only living thing he cared about to being a pawn in his game to destroy Klaus.

_Inhale. _Elena began to stir. Her hand slowly made its way to her head as her eyes fluttered open. She looked around her, sitting up slightly when she realized she did not know where she was. Her eyes followed a path around the room that eventually landed on darkness. On him.

_Exhale. _She saw him. He knew that by the way her breath caught in her throat. "Stefan?" she whispered so quietly, even he had to strain his ears to hear her. "Where am I?" she struggled to ask as she clutched the back of her head. "Why does my head hurt?"

Stefan stood from the table he had been perched on while he watched her. "Might want to lay back down" he suggested, walking towards her. "I knocked you in the head pretty good to get you unconscious" he said as though it was no big deal. Elena's eyes grew wide at this revelation. At knowing what Stefan was capable of and how far he would go to get what he wanted.

She clutched her head tighter and let out a gasp filled with pain as the throbbing intensified. "What's going on?" she asked, laying back down and closing her eyes. "Why do you have me?" she questioned, already sensing that she had been kidnapped.

Stefan stood at the foot of the old rusted bed. "Klaus is looking for you" he answered her.

Elena let out a pitiful laugh at his answer. "Klaus. It all comes back to Klaus" she said, finally opening her eyes to look up at him.

"He's not playing by my rules anymore, so I am changing the game" he said, watching her carefully. "We'll be staying here tonight. His hybrids shouldn't be able to track us with the snow" he explained.

Elena forced herself to sit up, wincing in pain. "I'm not staying anywhere with you" she told him angrily, moving off of the bed and standing up. She used the bed for support as she began walking towards the door.

"You won't make it too far" Stefan told her, watching her walk past him. She ignored him though as she stumbled toward the door. She opened it and stepped outside, only to be met with a couple of feet of snow and more falling from the night sky. "Believe me now?" he asked, standing close behind her.

Elena jumped, turning around quickly. She glared at him. At the man she used to know. "Take me home, Stefan" she demanded evenly.

Stefan simply smiled, remembering a time when all she had to do was pout her lip and he would do whatever she said. "You're not going anywhere, Elena" he said, his voice cold and emotionless.

Elena's face hardened. She was stuck. Until Stefan decided she could go. Slowly, she walked past him, brushing against his arm as she did. It sent a shiver down her spine.

As soon as Elena was back inside, he let the door shut with a slam, locking it. Elena rubbed her hands together, realizing how cold it was in the place. "I'm cold" she said, an edge in her voice as she ran her hands over her arms.

Stefan shrugged. "Can't build a fire. The hybrids would find us" he explained to her.

"Are there any blankets?" she asked, disgusted with how little he cared about her comfort. Again, Stefan shrugged, not really too bothered to check and see. Elena took slow, small steps past Stefan to the nearby closet, hoping to find blankets or perhaps an extra jacket to add to the light one she was already wearing. Nothing.

"You might want to get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow" he told her, heading back to the table he had been sitting on.

Elena shook her head in disbelief as she made her way back to the bed and lay down on her side. No sheets or covers of any kind on that hard bed. She tucked herself into a ball, trying to contain any body warmth she had. She was well aware that Stefan was staring at her, even though she couldn't see him.

After half an hour of just lying there, she gave up on trying to sleep. She was frozen and the shivering was taking over her body. At times, she could even see her breath. But he didn't care. He stopped caring the moment he decided to leave town with Klaus.

Stefan sat perfectly still, watching her. He could hear her heartbeat slow as the coldness took over her body, slowing it down. He could hear the faint sound of her teeth chattering. She was suffering and he knew it. He just wasn't supposed to care, because caring would make him weak, like before. Elena had been his weakness. It was how everyone knew to hurt him. His concern for Elena, hell, his love for Elena, had made him forgot who he truly was and what he was capable of doing. A vampire who could hold power.

But despite how much he didn't want to care, little memories began to surface, making it harder for him to keep from caring as he sat there and watched her.

Like that time when he had woken her up by kissing her cheek. Although she had been sleepy, she had smiled up at him, agreeing to step out into the night with him. Or that time when he had convinced her to spend five more minutes with him, which in all actuality, ended up being an hour and they were really late for school. And the way she had smiled when she could no longer keep her game going about him not being able to come inside the lake house. Their first kiss, her telling him that she loved him for the first time, him telling her.

Usually, the memories only popped up when he was alone, sitting by himself and running out of things to think about. Occasionally though, a memory would pop up when he was with Elena, while he was being a first class jackass to make her believe that he didn't care anymore. It wasn't that he didn't care anymore. He just didn't want to. It would have been better for her to believe he was gone for good.

When in reality, sometimes he cried himself to sleep because he couldn't get the look in her eyes out of his head when he had bit her. Or the screams when he had almost driven her off of the bridge where her parents had died. Sometimes he cried himself to sleep because he knew she was doing the same thing.

He heard Elena take a sharp inhale, bringing him out of his thoughts. Cold. She was cold. He needed to find a way to keep her warm, to end her suffering. But he couldn't do that, because she couldn't know that he cared. That he was struggling internally with wanting to rush to her and wrap his arms around her. He was struggling, had been, to not hold on to her and never let her go.

Elena's shivering increased to the point where he could see her legs moving. He gripped the edge of the table he was on, fighting the urge to go to her. The minutes ticked by and turned into hours. Still, she shivered. "I hate you" she whispered finally. His shoulders tensed up, surprised to hear her speak. "I hate you" she whispered again as a few tears escaped from her.

Slowly, Stefan left the table and walked towards the bed. He lay down, facing her back. He studied her, took in her pain. Her sadness. Her fear.

Elena felt him join her on the bed. Instantly, she turned herself to face him and moved towards him quickly. She grabbed his shirt, burying her face into his chest and clung to him as if her life depended on it. And it probably did. "I hate you" she whispered.

Stefan wrapped his arms around her, pulling her freezing body to him. "I know" he whispered back. "I know." He breathed her in, feeling her shiver less and less the longer he held her. He missed this. He missed this more than anything. "I have to kill him" Stefan whispered to her. Elena nodded, because she knew he had to. Someone had to. Klaus would be a continuous threat if he were allowed to remain alive.

She felt her body warming slowly. She smiled softly, taking a slow breath. "I know. I just wish you didn't always have to be the hero" she said quietly, tucking her face into his shoulder. Elena recognized that she was treating Stefan as though he was the Stefan she had fallen in love with. The Stefan that Klaus had taken from her. Stefan held her tighter, feeling her heart beating against his chest. Hesitantly, Elena pulled herself to look up at him. "Should I move on, Stefan?" she asked him.

_Inhale. _Stefan was caught off guard by her question and her tears did not help him contain his composure. He gripped his hand tightly to the back of her shirt, holding her close. "Yes" he said, his own tears forming and trickling down his face.

_Exhale. _"But I don't want you to" he added. He knew it was selfish to tell her that. But he wanted her to know.

Elena's tears ceased for a moment as she replayed what he had just said. "I'll help you" she told him weakly, reaching her hand up and wiping at his tears. He looked away from her. But she forced him to look back at her. "I'll do whatever you say. I won't fight you anymore. I'll help you kill Klaus" she said. "If you promise me you still love me, I will wait for you to do what you need to do, Stefan. I will wait as long as it takes."

"It's not fair to you, Elena" he said, his voice full of pain. "You deserve to be happy" he said, a fresh set of tears appearing.

"You make me happy" she told him honestly. Maybe not lately, but she could never erase all the times that he had. She could never stop thinking about the times he would make her happy in the future.

"I hurt you" he countered.

"You don't mean to" she replied, running her thumb across his cheek.

He looked at her for a long moment, studying every freckle on her face. She was beautiful. Broken, but beautiful. Before Stefan could stop himself, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. Elena kissed him back, having been waiting to do this for months.

Stefan broke the kiss, though he still remained close to her. He studied her once again. The way she held her eyes tightly closed, savoring the moment they had just shared. "I love you" he whispered. "If I ever tell you otherwise, I'm lying."

"I know" she smiled, letting her eyes open. They were a bit brighter now as she stared at him. She knew Stefan was lying when he made her think he didn't love her. "You've always been a terrible liar" she said.

And although he would lie to her again soon, she understood why he had to. If Klaus new how Stefan truly loved her still, Klaus would regain control. And as long as Klaus was in control, Elena would never truly have Stefan the way she wished she could. The way she had been dreaming about since he walked away from her. "I left to save my brother" he whispered, being able to read her thoughts. He always had been able to.

Elena locked her eyes with his. "Liar" she whispered. "You left to protect me" she said, feeling her tears return. Because it was the first time she had ever said it out loud. It was the first time she had ever let herself feel guilty for what had happened to him because of it. Because of her. Stefan was in this mess because of her. Because he was trying to protect her.

_Inhale. _He moved to rest his forehead against hers, kissing her softly.

_Exhale. _"I'll always protect you, Elena" he whispered. "Always."


End file.
